Mindfulness Born Peace and Happiness (MBPH): A Joyful Way to a Healthy Body Healthy Mind  

MBPH-About.pdf

About the training program:

“Mindfulness Born Peace and Happiness: A Joyful Way to a Healthy Body Healthy Mind” is an initiative started by the Asian Institute of Applied Buddhism (Hong Kong)  in July 2012,  as an effort to bring mindfulness into the health care and social services field. The program is directed by Thich Chan Phap Kham, a Buddhist monk and a senior disciple of Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh¹.The foundation of this training program is the teachings and practices of mindfulness and study of the mind, as taught and practiced in the Buddhist tradition. The mindfulness teachings and practices are based on the “Full Awareness of Mindful Breathings (anapanasati sutta) Discourse” and the “Four Establishments of Mindfulness Discourse (satipathana sutta)”, as taught by the Buddha more than 2500 years ago.  The Study of the Mind are based on the teachings of mind and consciousness by the Manifestation Only School (vijnaptimatrata, which was originated by Asanga and Vasubandhu – 4th century Indian Buddhist monks and philosophers) and the interbeing nature of phenomena as taught in the Avamtasaka Sutra.

Even though the teachings and practices are from the Buddhist tradition, they are presented in a non- sectarian way and can be practiced by people of all faith.  Buddhism is a way of living, the way of understanding and love.  A Buddha is an awakened person. The historical Buddha here is seen as a wise teacher, as a scientist in the field of mind and consciousness. There is nothing religious about mindfulness, besides the facts that it was first discovered by a person whom we call the Buddha, and mindfulness was used widely in the Buddhist community as a practice to bring peace and happiness to practitioners.

One important aspect of this program is the regular practice of mindfulness, which is integrated into daily activities, such as eating; walking, working … Mindfulness can be practiced anywhere and anytime. Practicing together in a community (Sangha) is highly recommended.  The “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” Sangha in Hong Kong consists of health care and social services professionals was founded in Feb. 2013 to support each others in their daily practice, and to integrate mindfulness practice into their professional fields.

1.    Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is considered a pioneer in the Body/Mind Health  field through his work in Mindfulness. In 2001, Herbert Benson, M.D. - Director Emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute (BHI) for Mind Body Medicine, and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School,  invited Thich Nhat Hanh to be the first recipient of its Mind/Body/Spirit Award.

About Thich Chan Phap Kham

Bhikkhu Thich Chan Phap Kham has been a disciple of Zen MasterThich Nhat Hanh since 1987. He was ordained a novice monk in 1998, a fully ordained monk in 2000 and a Dharma teacher in 2004. A native of Vietnam, he immigrated to the United States in 1979, studied, and worked as an electronics engineer from 1983-1997. From 1998 to 2004, he practiced at Plum Village’s monasteries in France and in the United States. Since 2005, as member of a team of Plum Village’s Dharma teachers practicing in Asia, he has taught the art of mindful living and helped establish community of practices in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and Australia. He currently serves as Director of Asian Institute of Applied Buddhism in Hong Kong, a center for Applied Buddhism Studies and Practices in the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and Plum Village. His current teaching and research interests are in the body/mind sciences, integrating Buddhist teachings and practices on the mind with mordern neuroscience, for a healthy body/healthy mind.

As a lay person, Thich Chan Phap Kham obtained a BSEE from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in June 1983 and a MSEE from the University of Maryland in May 1986. From 1983 to 1986, he worked at National Institute of Health (in Bethesda, Maryland) and completed his master’s thesis on signal processing methods for Evoked Potentials. From 1986 to 1997, he worked at Harry Diamond Laboratories (in Adelphi, Maryland), doing research on radar systems. During that time, he was also active in community works, running Vietnamese Cultural Society of Metropolitan Washington from, an organization he founded to teach Vietnamese culture and language to Vietnamese-American youths.